Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony

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Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony

Creator(s)

John de Lancie

Date added

January 19, 2013

Duration

~1:28:00

Status

Complete

Type/genre

Documentary

Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony is a feature-length documentary about the summer 2012 edition of BronyCon as well as the Friendship is Magic fandom as a whole. It collaborates with a number of people who are or used to be involved with the show and is financed via crowdfunding. Backers will be able to select from a series of rewards, depending on their donation, and will receive a download code for the finished film. A public release available to non-backers is not expected until mid-2013.[1]

Contents

History

The titlecard for the film

John de Lancie, who voiced Discord in The Return of Harmony, decided to make a documentary about bronies after viewing a news report on the fandom which "upset" him.[2]. He had already been discussing the idea of making such a documentary earlier with Michael Brockhoff, a producer he had worked with before.[2][3] They brought Laurent Malaquais on as director and BroNYcon chair Zebranky (Andrew Brockert) as consulting producer and filmed a Kickstarter pitch, advertising the project as "respectful, insightful, and very entertaining" and explaining that "bronies deserve a chance to show us who they really are and why they've chosen to become fans".[4][5] The Kickstarter page went live on May 14, 2012[6], and the original goal of $60,000 was met on May 16.[7][8]

On May 27, it was announced that Tara Strong (the voice of Twilight Sparkle) and Lauren Faust (the creator of Friendship of Magic and showrunner during its first season) had joined the project as producers and would also contribute to some of the Kickstarter rewards.[9] The announcement was accompanied by a call to get the pledges to $200,000 in order to broaden the scope of the documentary. One of the reasons given for the the expansion was the possibility of flying to various places to follow brony "celebrities" (like The Living Tombstone) on their journey to the con.[10] The project passed $120,000, twice the original amount, on May 28, and $200,000 on June 3;[11] shortly thereafter it was announced that the documentary crew would film at two European conventions in August if the project received more than $270,000.[12]

Ultimately, the project collected $322,022 by the time it ended on June 10, 2012, with an additional $26,142 received via Paypal outside the Kickstarter system.[13]

Interaction with fans

A blogspot-hosted blog went up within a day of the Kickstarter launch, giving fans and potential backers the opportunity to share interesting stories of related to the fandom, suggest topics the documentary ought to pursue and fan projects the crew ought to know about. A casting call was posted to the Kickstarter page, announcing that the crew were looking for a variety of con attendees to interview, such as a soldier and a couple brought together by their shared interest in the show.[14]

The same day that Tara Strong and Lauren Faust's involvement was announced, all of the producers participated in a live chat/stream, answering questions from the con staff both about the documentary and their work in general.[15]

In a separate contest, fans were able to submit a piece of artwork until June 15, 2012; prints of the art were distributed to backers of the project, and the artists received a cash prize and the opportunity to meet Strong, Faust and de Lancie at BronyCon.[12]

Television airing

An abridged 42-minute version of the documentary aired as part of Logo TV's WHAT!? documentary series on October 14, 2013, at 7 PM Pacific time.[16][17]